"Nothing is too small to known, and nothing is too big to attempt." - William Cornelius Van Horne
"Sir William Cornelius Van Horne
Born 1843 in Chelsea, Illinois (U.S.A.); died 1915 in Montréal, Québec.
William Cornelius Van Horne worked for railway companies his entire life. At the age of fourteen, he was a telegraph operator for the Illinois Central Railroad. He held a variety of positions of increasing responsibility with railway companies in the United States. After Canadian Pacific hired him as general manager, the company’s Prairie route between Winnipeg and Calgary was quickly completed. He also supervised construction of the last and most challenging section of railway in British Columbia leading to Port Moody. Canadian Pacific had expected construction of the transcontinental railway to take ten years, but with Van Horne at the helm, the project was completed in just half that time.
Achievements
- William Cornelius Van Horne oversaw the construction of Canada’s first transcontinental railway by Canadian Pacific.
- He made tourism a motor of economic prosperity for the Canadian Pacific and was involved in the construction of the Banff Springs and Château Frontenac hotels."
Source: https://histoiredurailhistory.ca/personnages_en.html